Cheers C., - I'm getting the mileage in, but it's lower mileage than back in the day - each of the last three marathons I've attempted has had a serious over-use injury setback. So, the aim is to peak in the low to mid-fifties instead of the low to mid-sixties. Also, any "speed" sessions are a bit quieter too - the days of a 14-mile intervals session on a Tuesday after doing 22 miles on the Sunday are definitely in the past.
As you know, the key to sub-3 is to be able to bang out 6:45s while "reading the Examiner" and that's not happening at all ATM. However, there's a month to go before the taper so the extra stamina may help that. One sign of some form coming is that it's nothing to go out and knock out 8 miles in under an hour.
8 X 800 on the freezing windy Carrigtwohill bike path after work this evening - with three miles either side of the session - keep on keeping on
) But anyone who wants to chip in, feel free. As some of you know, I started coaching a young fella last year to his first marathon (2.37) and then to a Half pb in September. 1.11.xx, which was about a 2.5 min improvement. Obviously the lad's got a bit of talent at this game. He's 25 or 26 and is a strong cyclist and runner. Thing is, I'm a fuckin pure amateur when it comes to this stuff. I have run a good few marathons and I know that there are different ways to skin the cat. I have tried a few training plans myself so I do have some idea. Above, I've posted a month's plan that the bloke has just started for Boston. He asked for a tough programme cos he wants to give it a daycent lash. He says 2.30, I said 2.32 as Boston target time. He's young. Unfortunately, my tech skills are absolute shite so I hope you can read the screenshot I chucked up. I was going to ask the daughter for help but I think I managed something in the end. What do ye reckon? He said the first week went fine and he just did the 8x800 this morning. I'm planning on dropping the speedy Tuesday stuff in Feb for a more 'strength' type workout. The reps will be longer and the pace a little easier obviously. Possibly chuck the mixed M pace+HM paced stuff in there, especially if the Sunday run wasn't too hard. Again, will have to decide whether to go to two hard sessions a week instead of three as the M pace Sunday stuff kicks in. An alternative is to put the Hard session on a Thursday. I'm thinking of topping out at about 140k a week - if his body stands up to it - in March. Any comments?